Floodwater tore through the Rhodes village of Archangelos before dawn on Monday, 2 November, pushing cars and trucks down streets and leaving them partly submerged. The Rhodes floods, driven by Storm Agneta, hit a community that flooded less than three weeks ago.
A heavy rainstorm hit the village located on the eastern side of the city on Monday morning. The floodwaters carried away rubbish bins and other things down the streets, and several homes and commercial buildings were affected. Authorities are still trying to assess the situation.
According to the local media, some villagers even had to climb onto their rooftops due to increasing water levels, while firefighters were called repeatedly to drain out the flooded properties. Schools were closed.
The rain eased by morning, but meteorologists warned that more showers and thunderstorms were possible.
Heavy rainfall has hit western and northern parts of Greece along with the eastern Aegean islands, with rough weather continuing until Wednesday. The rainfall was projected to increase on Monday in the Ionian Islands and the coast of central Greece.
The civil protection agency of Greece had asked the citizens to secure any loose items, not to cross streams walking or driving cars, and not to be near the coast.
A storm washed out a man’s car into the sea near Stegna Beach near Archangelos on 14 October. The man died, and Greek news media have reported 264 mm of rainfall in six hours.
After some days, the governor of the South Aegean region has stated that the work on the €5.1 million flood protection project of Archangelos is not yet started. In his view, it would take about six months to tender and then at least one year to complete.
